Leaders & Lagniappe with Dr. Tom Frieden

Our next Dean’s Leaders & Lagniappe Lecture presents Dr. Tom Frieden in a fireside chat with Dean Thomas LaVeist. Dr. Frieden has served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as commissioner of the New York City Health Department. His work made New York City’s tuberculosis control program and overall health department models for the world, established effective programs in India, and improved morale, effectiveness, and impact at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Tom Frieden’s influential publications have identified the what, how and why of action to improve health. Dr. Frieden’s forthcoming book, The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own (MIT Press, September 2025), distills four decades of public health leadership into a clear, actionable framework to extend healthy lives. Drawing from real-world successes and failures, the book bridges the lethal gap between scientific knowledge and life-saving action.